Write When You Have Time, Publish at the Time You Choose with Scheduled Posts

"Post now" alone doesn't last

Many people who run a shop's social media do it alongside serving customers and office work. You may find time to write after closing or before opening prep, but stopping at 12:00 noon or at 19:00 when customers are heading home to post is hard. As a result, posting times get dragged along by writing times and drift toward hours when posts are rarely read.

Scheduled posts separate writing time from posting time. Write several days' worth in one sitting, and they go out automatically at the times you set. How to choose the time is covered in Choosing When to Post.

How to schedule

Set the date and time in the composer

After writing the body in the post composer, press the calendar button in the toolbar. In the dialog that opens, choose the date and time to publish, in Japan time. Times go in 5-minute steps and only future times can be chosen. Press "Schedule" in the dialog and the send button changes from "Post" to "Schedule." Press it once more and the schedule is set.

To remove a schedule, press "Unschedule" in the same dialog. The send button returns to "Post," and pressing it publishes immediately.

Create from a free slot on the calendar

In the week view of the calendar, click a free time and the composer opens with that time already filled in. This is handy when you want to slot a post into an open time while looking at your schedule.

Threads can be scheduled together too

Posts that are chained together, like an X or Threads thread, go in with a single schedule. They go out in order: the 2nd after the 1st is out, and so on, and if an earlier post doesn't go out, the later ones don't either. This avoids a state where only part of a thread is out and the story doesn't connect.

How a scheduled post goes out

A scheduled post is published by SNS TOWN at that time through each network's official API. We don't register it in the network's own scheduling feature; our system sends it at the time. SNS TOWN looks for posts whose time has come every 5 minutes and sends them, so the actual posting time is within a few minutes of the scheduled time.

Right before posting, the post goes through the pre-post check once more. If it is over X's character limit, or has no image on Instagram, it is stopped right there. If it couldn't be posted because of a temporary problem on the network's side, we try again at the next check. If it still can't be posted, it is left with a "Failed" badge and the reason, and you are notified.

A post that couldn't go out by 6 hours past its scheduled time is stopped as "Missed" and not published. That's because text written for a particular time may no longer fit if it goes out half a day late.

Fix it before it goes out; after that it can't change

Until a scheduled post goes out, you can open it and edit the text, time and image. When you save your changes, it is checked again, and if an approved post now fails the check, it goes back to Awaiting approval. This prevents the accident of a problem post going out when you thought you had fixed it.

On the other hand, a post past its scheduled time can't have its text, time or image changed. The server refuses it too, not just the screen hiding the editing fields. If content could be rewritten after posting, the record and what actually went out would no longer match. If you want to take down a post that has already gone out, you can delete it from the social network from the post's page. Only for Instagram, the API has no way to delete, so delete it from the app.

How many you can schedule, and credits

There is no limit on scheduling itself, but each plan has an allowance of posts that can go out in a given time, and posts within that allowance don't use credits. Posts beyond the allowance use credits per post. X posts that include a URL are counted in a separate allowance because X charges more for them. You can check the allowance for each plan on pricing and plans.

How to use it

1. From "Post" in the left menu, open the post composer.
2. Write the body, and add an image or poll if you need one.
3. Choose a date and time with the calendar button and press "Schedule."
4. It lines up on the calendar as a scheduled post.

Steps with screenshots are in Scheduling a Post for a Set Date and Time and Editing a Scheduled Post.

Combining with other features

If you want posts every week on a fixed day and time, creating a post cycle takes less work than scheduling each one. The AI prepares a draft for each slot, and what you approve goes out at the time. Posts you schedule by hand and post cycles line up on the same calendar.

When you want to schedule many posts at once, CSV bulk scheduling lets you import a list made in a spreadsheet.

Frequently asked questions